Study: Poverty Impairs Brain Function

It's not just that being poor is difficult; according to a new study, poverty actually makes it harder for you to think.

Which is unfortunate, because poor people need all the brainpower they can get to figure out how to get the fuck out of poverty. This study, in Science, outlines one way that poverty feeds on itself:

The poor often behave in less capable ways, which can further perpetuate poverty. We hypothesize that poverty directly impedes cognitive function and present two studies that test this hypothesis. First, we experimentally induced thoughts about finances and found that this reduces cognitive performance among poor but not in well-off participants. Second, we examined the cognitive function of farmers over the planting cycle. We found that the same farmer shows diminished cognitive performance before harvest, when poor, as compared with after harvest, when rich... We suggest that this is because poverty-related concerns consume mental resources, leaving less for other tasks. These data provide a previously unexamined perspective and help explain a spectrum of behaviors among the poor.

The study's authors say that "The cognitive deficit of being preoccupied with money problems was equivalent to a loss of 13 IQ points, losing an entire night's sleep or being a chronic alcoholic."

In a just world the rich would have these problems. Where is the equilibrium, o almighty creator?

[The full study. Photo: Ed Yourdon/ Flickr]

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The equilibrium? That's up to us. If there is a God, he/she gave us the brains to see that all this shit is totally fucked up and fingers capable of pulling triggers. It's definitely not his/her fault that we are a all just a bunch of lazy, bored cowards.

Yeah, totally not his/her/its fault for not using the all mighty powers he/she/it has. "Why use my infinite power when I can blame the imperfect being I created? Ha!" Whatever makes you feel fuzzy inside, pal.

Any belief in an almighty being also involves the belief that this almighty being gave us "free will" , i.e., the freedom to be bad or good. Blaming that almighty being for what we do with our free will just means that we don't believe we should be given the ability to make our own choices. We make our own society, culture, and for lack of a better term, reality. And if there is anything human history has taught us it is that, if there is a God, he/she doesn't give two shits about what we do down here and is not about to get involved. So, with that in mind, whether he/she exists or not, it's still all up to us if we want to fix something we don't like.

Okay, let me get this straight. For you, the fact that an all mighty creator doesn't intervene in our lives in any observable, measurable way means that he gave us free will, rather than he is non existent? How the hell does that logic work? "Yeah, he exists but he doesn't help us, he doesn't impose justice, he doesn't do anything. But he exists! I know it because reasons!". Come on.

Or it can be as simple as: poor people consume less nutritious food and thus, have less energy to work with. Like, tell me you haven't seen a totally protein deprived hippy try to put together meaningful sentences? We all have, don't lie to yourself. Same concept here; less energy, less blood sugar, less brain function.

It's more than possible they controlled for that in the studies. They're suggesting that the number and type of trade-off decisions people have to make when thy live in poverty sap them of willpower and energy and thus impede mental functioning. My own experience supports this idea; when you have to chose between dinner and busfare, it isn't just the hunger or the walking that drains you. It's the decisions, the stress, the constant anxiety, that affects one's mental agility, clarity, and willpower.